The invention relates generally to closures for containers, and in particular to a child-resistant, tamper-evident closure for containers, for example those used in the drug industry.
It is well known that the drug industry requires a container in which the contents are safe from adulteration. Most safeguards, however, only make the container tamper resistant, and if tampered with, the container must evidence the tampered condition. The tamper-resistant or tamper-evident container ensures the end user that a container has not been adulterated and that the full measure of the contents remains in the container. The drug industry has also been careful to provide a child-resistant container to at least inhibit, and preferably prevent, young children from obtaining access to drugs and other contents of containers either displayed on a market shelf or found in the home.
Since no container is perfectly tamper-proof, as events of the day have shown, it is important to provide a container which enables the purchaser to determine whether, to the extent possible, a container has been tampered with. Accordingly, therefore, various closure apparatus have been discussed in the patent literature to disclose to the consumer whether the container being purchased has, in some manner, been altered.
Many of these tamper resistant or tamper evident closure devices are not directed to child-resistant containers, or, if directed to a child-resistant container, have complex constructions. Hence, they tend to be relatively expensive to manufacture.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a reliable, simple, and inexpensive closure apparatus and method which make evident whether a child-resistant container has been tampered with. Other objects of the invention are a child-resistant, tamper-evident closure apparatus and method which are simple for an adult to use while difficult for a child to use, and which provide evidence of tampering even if the cap itself has not been removed from the container.